In this post to his siteJulien Pauli looks at the concept of "huge pages" and how it relates to some of the behind the scenes work done in PHP 7 to improve memory usage.

Memory paging is a way Operating Systems manage userland process memory. Each process memory access is virtual, and the OS together with the hardware MMU must translate that address into a physical address used to access the data in main memory (RAM).

Paging memory is dividing memory in chunks of fixed size, called pages. [...] Why use huge pages? The concept is easy. If we make the OS Kernel use bigger page sizes, that means that more data can be accessed into one single page. That also means that we'll suffer from less TLB miss, once the page translation is stored into the TLB, because one translation will now be valid for more data.

He briefly covers how some updated memory handling and opcode restructuring helps PHP 7 perform even better, especially when it comes to the OPCache handling. He talks about the changes made in the extension specifically to support the "huge pages" idea, complete with code examples (in C) of how this was accomplished.

HUGE is a leading interactive agency that specializes in building sustainable online businesses for some of the smartest and most demanding companies in the world. Founded in 1999, HUGE has developed a unique methodology and culture that combines the most relevant aspects of research, design, marketing and technology to meet client objectives. The online businesses designed and developed by HUGE generate over $8.3 billion in online revenue a year and are visited by over 150 million unique visitors a month. HUGE is headquartered in Brooklyn, NY with offices in Los Angeles, Stockholm and London. Clients include IKEA, JetBlue Airways, Walt Disney Company, iVillage, Time Inc., Target and CNN.

The Freelance ZEND PHP/WordPress Developer will participate in development efforts on projects for external clients. He or she will work with the account team, interaction designers, and graphic designers to design and build interactive solutions for clients. He or she will be responsible for working on the software design as well as building, testing, debugging and troubleshooting programs and scripts for various functions, and modifying existing code to add new features.

Requirements/Qualifications:

The ideal candidate should have experience creating highly trafficked websites with high volumes of traffic

Strong Object Oriented Programming skills and familiarity with languages such as Java and C#

Strong PHP experience, specifically with PHP 5

3+ years of WordPress with strong knowledge of WordPress plugins and architecture

Overall experience with LAMP and open source in general

Good database skills and the ability to create and reverse engineer an ERD

Experience with mySQL 5 and other RDBMS preferably Oracle or MS SQL Server

Strong CMS experience with systems such as Alfresco, Interwoven, Documentum or Drupal

Strong CMS Workflow experience

Experience writing web services

Experience creating REST based architectures

Experience using ZEND PHP Framework

Experience creating applications from the ground up

Back-end development - Everything is processed at the application layer so they will not be writing Stored Procedures but must understand relational database concepts

Experience in an Agile development environment - the product development is more of a waterfall environment

Experience mentoring other developers

Must have excellent problem solving skills and love technical challenges

Must be self-motivated, and able to multi-task

Must be able to take initiative to be productive and efficient

HUGE is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). We strongly support diversity in the workforce.

The Freelance PHP Developer will participate in development efforts on projects for external clients. He or she will work with the account team, interaction designers, and graphic designers to design and build interactive solutions for clients. He or she will be responsible for working on the software design as well as building, testing, debugging and troubleshooting programs and scripts for various functions, and modifying existing code to add new features.

Requirements/Qualifications:

5+ years of development experience

The ideal candidate should have experience creating highly trafficked websites

Experience with Object Oriented Programming in general but preferably Java

Strong PHP experience, specifically with PHP 5

Overall experience with LAMP and open source in general

Good database skills and the ability to create and reverse engineer an ERD

Experience with mySQL 5 and other RDBMS preferably Oracle or MS SQL Server

Strong CMS experience with systems such as Alfresco, Interwoven, Documentum or Drupal

Strong CMS Workflow experience

Experience writing web services

Experience creating REST based architectures

Experience using PHP Frameworks like Kohana

Experience creating applications from the ground up

Back-end development - Everything is processed at the application layer so they will not be writing Stored Procedures but must understand relational database concepts

Experience in an Agile development environment - the product development is more of a waterfall environment

Experience mentoring other developers

Must have excellent problem solving skills and love technical challenges

Must be self-motivated, and able to multi-task

Must be able to take initiative to be productive and efficient

B.S./M.Sc.Computer Science or equivalent experience

Consulting experience a big plus

The duration of this engagement is 3-4 months, with the potential for extension

Our client is located in Manhattan and this person will need to be able to work at the client site with team members 90% of the time

Local candidates only

HUGE is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). We strongly support diversity in the workforce.

HUGE is a leading interactive agency that specializes in building sustainable online businesses for some of the smartest and most demanding companies in the world. Founded in 1999, HUGE has developed a unique methodology and culture that combines the most relevant aspects of research, design, marketing and technology to meet client objectives. The online businesses designed and developed by HUGE generate over $8.3 billion in online revenue a year and are visited by over 150 million unique visitors a month. HUGE is headquartered in Brooklyn, NY with offices in Los Angeles, Portland and London. The company is jointly owned by its operating partners and Interpublic Group. Clients include IKEA, JetBlue Airways, Walt Disney Company, iVillage, Time Inc., Target and CNN.